Friday, April 24, 2009

It's Easy Being Green: A Hairy Situation

Welcome to a new weekly feature at Law of the Land! Each week, I'll share an easy tip or two for green living. Sorry Kermit the Frog, but I can't agree with you - I think IT'S EASY BEING GREEN!This week's tip:We have three indoor pets, including a long-haired cat. They have a lot of hair to shed and brush. Did you know you can compost pet hair? A few more surprising compost ingredients: hair from your brush, dust bunnies and dryer lint. What surprising things do you compost?

Ha! It's true about hair and lint. My compost pile has EVERYTHING that'll biodegrade in it. I haven't noticed a problem, but I add TONS of leaves which seems to be the cure-all for composting.

Some stuff I throw in the compost: Drink cups (the paper with wax coating kind), paper egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, used paper towels, the water from soaking pots/pans, etc.

I also throw in used kitty litter (World's Best Kitty Litter, which is made from corn). This is supposedly a big no-no, but the reason you're not supposed to throw it in is because of the possibility of disease. However, my cats are indoor-only and very, very unlikely to contract a disease/virus, and the feral cats are already crapping all over my garden. It's also recommended, at least in some circles, to pee on your compost pile for added nitrogen. I'm not going to pee on my compost, but it'll get pee from the kitty litter.

mlc, good tip! my VC uses paper bags, but now you have me thinking I could just throw the whole thing in the compost!

Catherine, any composting is better than none! we have started treating the whole trash thing like a challenge -- how much can we recycle/compost/reuse so that we have as little actual trash as possible. it's pretty amazing!

Expatriate - thanks! your godson says WOOF.

NotSoAngryRedhead - you have some GREAT ideas! I haven't switched the kitties to enviro-friendly litter yet, though WB is one of the brands I've been considering. You have a good point about animals already using our gardens as toilets - LOL - it took some real getting used to when my husband and his DOG moved in with me and the yard became the dog's personal toilet- At least it can be beneficial!

I agree that you can put pet hair on a compost heap. I have doubts about whether it will rot down, I think it just stays there, but then again I don't think it does much harm and no doubt it's better in your garden than going to landfill.